The United States Department of Justice has announced the arrest of four individuals accused of plotting to detonate pipe bombs across Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve.
The suspects Audrey Ilene Carroll, Dante Garfield, Zachary Aaron Page, and Tina Lai were arrested in the Los Angeles area and are alleged members of an extremist group known as the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF).
According to a federal court complaint, the group planned to carry out coordinated attacks using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) concealed in backpacks and placed at multiple locations across the city. Prosecutors said the devices were described as complex pipe bombs.
The Justice Department said the suspects took extensive security precautions while planning the attack, including the use of burner phones, encrypted messaging platforms, and creating false alibis by streaming movies at home during the planned operation.
Investigators also alleged that the group compiled step-by-step instructions for constructing pipe bombs.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the suspects identified themselves as part of a radical offshoot of TILF, an extremist organisation motivated by anti-government, anti-law-enforcement, and pro-Palestinian ideology. Authorities said the suspects planned to target five separate locations in Los Angeles.
Investigators alleged that the group coordinated through the encrypted messaging app Signal, using a group chat titled “Order of the Black Lotus.” Court documents state that Carroll provided a detailed list of chemicals, tools, and components needed to build the explosive devices.
On December 12, the suspects allegedly travelled to the Mojave Desert, where they attempted to construct and test the devices.
An FBI bomb technician later determined that materials recovered from the campsite could be readily assembled into both improvised explosive devices and Molotov cocktails.
The case remains under investigation, and prosecutors said additional details may emerge as court proceedings continue.
